Dear Friends, I must admit I was running out of steam and geting discouraged
about putting more work into this issue. Then today I got encouragements from
a couple different sources, so I am back at it. Some media coverage.
An e-mail from someone who is important in this grand scheme of things who I thought
had written me off. So... I revised DomeBase.com so that it is now from a post-LandRush
perspective and revamped the DomeBase Proposal. Post-LandRush, it is much harder
to come up with a simple solution that will be fair to the Land Rushers... at least
one that has a chance of being accepted... but I gave it a shot. Please see
it below. My apologies to those of you who are tired of seeing versions of
it. I do think it is significantly different than the last version I put up
on this board. I had to make some compromises/concessions otherwise it would
never fly. Even so, the odds are not good... but if the Media cares, a number
of registrars like it, the IP constituency folks like it... perhaps it might fly.
Perhaps I could even use DomeBase.com as leverage... only listing those registrars
who agree with these ideas? I welcome feedback.
DOMEBASE PROPOSAL (revised
10/12/2001)
1. Afilias announces that there will be a Land Rush II including all
names registered in the Sunrise Period.*
2. Registrars can participate in Land
Rush II if they agree not to charge their customers who paid for names in Land Rush
I twice for the same thing**
3. New customers also encouraged to pre-register
names in Land Rush II.
4. The "winner" of a name for Land Rush II gets that name
for a registration fee if the name has been successfully Sunrise challenged*** by
Afilias or someone else and not taken by someone with legitimate trademark rights.
If the name is not available, the "winner" also has the option to Sunrise challenge***
the name and get it if successful (the name is not trademarked) for a subsidized
fee (somewhere between $0 and $295) without having to show a trademark right in the
name (which would be impossible by definition).
________
*Legitimate trademark
holders will not lose any names in Land Rush II, but Sunrise squatters on non-trademarked
names will. All Sunrise names have to be included in Land Rush II because it
is hard to tell who is who before challenges.
**Registrars can participate in
Land Rush II if they: (a) did not charge non-refundable pre-registration fees for
Land Rush I; or (b) allow their customers who paid non-refundable pre-registration
fees in Land Rush I for names taken during Sunrise to pre-register for the same names
in Land Rush II without paying twice. Also, they should accept only one submission
per name in Land Rush II if they did this in Land Rush I.
***To protect legitimate
trademark holders from name loss due to WHOIS data processing corruption (good data
entered, bad data displayed), give original registrant a specified time-window after
challenge to
demonstrate that the registrant holds legitimate trademark for the
name in accordance with Sunrise rules despite corrupted WHOIS data.